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Fantastic Four Vol 1 276
She can't help but wonder if perhaps her son's mutant powers might be returning again. While downstairs, Reed is cleaning up the garbage from the party and his concerns about their double identities in Belle Porte being compromised causes him to reflect their attempts to try and have a normal family life, but realizes that as members of the Fantastic Four they may no longer have that luxury. When Reed opens the door to take out the trash he is suddenly blinded by a bright light. Sue is upstairs getting ready for bed when she notices the bright flash of light as well and comes rushing to her husband's aid. As Reed comments on the omni-directional light their attacker, Elspeth Cromwell, makes her appearance and calls out the "Benjamins" as witches that must be destroyed. When Reed tries to explain who they really are, Cromwell refuses to believe them and strikes Richards with a mystical bolt. When Sue tries to contain their attacker in an invisible force field, Elspeth turns it into water that she passes through. Suddenly fire begins to belch from the ground around Reed and Sue. Demonic hands rise from the ground and grab Reed's wife and pulls her into the Earth. When Reed tries to stretch his arm down to grab his wife, the demons manage to break it. However Sue is not gone, she uses her invisibility powers to force her way back to the surface. Increasing her attack, Elspeth then uses her arcane powers to summon the Knights of Hades to attack the couple. As the battle rages on, Franklin is awoken by the noise and he goes downstairs to check on his parents. As he runs to the door there is suddenly an explosion that knocks young Franklin backwards and he strikes his head on a cabinet, knocking him out. As Franklin falls to the ground unconscious, his head starts to bleed. As the blood seeps out onto the floor of the kitchen it begins to smolder. While outside, Reed tries to talk sense into Cromwell, pointing out that the only supernatural threat to Belle Port is her own reckless use of her occult power. Reed points out that the legends of the Knights of Hades states that if innocent blood is shed in their attacks then it can unleash an powerful evil force. When Elspeth tries to regain control of the Knights they turn on her and strike her down. Suddenly Franklin comes out to warn his parents that something is happening in the house. When Sue notices Franklin is bleeding, Elspeth realizes that it's too late, and at that very moment the massive form of Mephisto raises from the burning house saying that it is time for the final punishment. Back in New York's Greenwich village, Doctor Strange is in deep meditation when he suddenly calls out in pain. Sensing some powerful evil having been unleashed upon the Earth, he has his servant Wong bring him his Cloak of Levitation and flies off into the night sky to face this evil. | Writer1_1 = John Byrne | Penciler1_1 = John Byrne | Inker1_1 = Jerry Ordway | Colourist1_1 = Glynis Wein | Letterer1_1 = John Workman | Editor1_1 = Michael Carlin | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * ** ** ** ** Supporting Characters: * * Antagonists: * * * Other Characters: * * * * * * Locations: * ** *** **** ***** ***** Johnny's apartment ***** ****** ** *** Items: * * * Vehicles: * | Notes = Continuity Notes * The Fantastic Four all previously appeared in where they battled the Living Monolith alongside the Avengers. * Johnny glosses over his past girlfriends: ** His first girlfriend was Doris Evans who dated Johnny between - . She and Johnny broke up in when she finally got fed up with Johnny's life as a super-hero. ** Incidentally Johnny's break-up with Doris coincided with his first meeting with the woman who became his second girlfriend, the Inhuman known as Crystal in that same issue. This pair dated from - when Earth's pollution forced Crystal to return to her people's city of Attilan. She later formed a relationship with the Avenger known as Quicksilver in - ending her relationship with Johnny in the process. ** His third girlfriend was Frankie Raye who Johnny dated on and off between - and - . Their relationship ended when she agreed to become the next herald of Galactus. ** Lastly, he mentions Julie Angel, Frankie's former roommate, whom Johnny unsuccessfully pursued from - . He ultimately gave up and was getting over her in . * Johnny's relationship with "Alicia Masters" is quite a bit more complicated than what he mentions here: ** He refers to Alicia as the former girlfriend of his former teammate the Thing. Ben and Alicia began dating back in . ** Recently, Johnny, Reed and Ben were among those gathered by the Beyonder to be part of his Secret Wars in - . In of that series Ben discovered that he could change back and forth between his human and Thing forms. When the Secret Wars ended in , Ben decided to stay on Battleworld asking She-Hulk to replace him. ** As per the woman Johnny is in love with is not the real Alicia Masters, but a Skrull spy named Lyja. Lyja was given the mission to infiltrate the Fantastic Four and replaced Alicia during the events of . The plan was to use Alicia's identity because of her long standing relationship with Ben. However upon discovering that the Thing had stayed behind on Battleworld, Lyja then began pursuing a relationship with Johnny in order to maintain Alicia's ties to the team. * Jen expresses her concern that she might become like her cousin the Hulk. Jen's powers come from a blood transfusion she got from Bruce in . Her concerns are valid as at the time of this story, Bruce Banner's identity was lost within the mind of the savage Hulk, as seen in . Banner does not reassert any control until . * Some facts about Reed and Sue living in Belle Porte: ** The couple decided to give Franklin a normal family life in and purchased the house in . They adopted the identities of Reed and Sue Benjamin to try and keep their presence in town a secret. ** They completely moved into the home in . ** Alma Chalmers is the local snoop and she became interested in spying on the "Benjamins" in . She uncovered their secret in but instead of realizing who they really were, she came to believe they were witches. Sue has some concerns about Franklin in this issue: ** The first was finding him in Reed's lab in , in that story Franklin was almost tricked into freeing the symbiote that Reed had removed from Spider-Man's body in ** She's also concerned that his mutant powers might be coming back. Franklin's dreams are a new manifestation of his mutant powers in the form of precognitive dreams. Franklin's powers have fluctuated over the years since they first appeared in . Recently Franklin forced his powers to go dormant in when they were at risk of burning him out. * Reed mentions how Johnny originally tried to have a double identity during his time living in Glenville, Long Island, while maintaining a solo career during the early days of the Fantastic Four. This started in , although shows that Johnny blew his own cover to show off early on. * Mephisto appears here from his previous appearance in where he pit Thor against Ulik. * Doctor Strange and Wong appear here following the events of where the Doctor helped Spider-Man battle Morbius. Wong next appears in . * The appearance of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center at the end of this story should be considered a Topical Reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. The twin towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001. As of this writingOctober 30, 2015 the age of heroes has existed for roughly 14 years as such the time scale has slid forward so that the modern age exists after the terrorist attack. Publication Notes * This issue contains a letters page, Fantastic Forum. Letters are published from Sean Konot, Joseph Nowak, and John MacKinnon. | Trivia = * Reed and Sue's house guests are mostly based off of characters that appear in Sunday funnies and other syndicated newspaper strips. They include: Joe & Anne Palooka, Dick Tracy, The Lockhorns, Skeezix, Jiggs, Henry Mitchell the father of Dennis the Menace, Blondie and her husband Dagwood Bumstead and his best friend Herb Woodley. | Recommended = | Links = }} References